I keep finding myself enjoying Agatha All Along more than I think I will each week. Sometimes the episodes start a little rocky but pick up steam by the end. Last week’s felt a bit rougher than most, but I liked the rock’n’roll version of The Witch’s Road, and now I realize that last week’s episode was mostly just a setup for this one.
After all, last week we dealt with a whole mother/daughter trial on the Witch’s Road where Alice (Ali Ahn) had to break a generational curse and it turned out the song her famous rockstar witch mother had made an international hit was actually a ward protecting her daughter from the evil demons of the curse. What a touching moment!
We learn just how dark this show actually goes when they take that moment and follow it up with yet another mother/daughter beyond-the-grave trial in this week’s episode. This time, the ghost of Agatha’s mother, Evanora, visits them and tells Agatha “You were evil from the moment you were born. I should have killed you when you came into this world.” Ouch. Agatha seems genuinely upset by this and at the prospect of her coven leaving her behind to be tormented and possessed and who knows what else by her dead mom. (The possession that takes place moments earlier is the creepiest scene in the show so far).
When Agatha’s mother starts to absorb her, Alice jumps in and blasts some of her own magic into the mix, trying to save her even as the others warn her against it. This dispels the ghost, but immediately Agatha (Kathryn Hahn) begins to absorb Alice’s powers. It’s a shocking moment and the rest of the coven scramble to stop her. The only thing that does is when Teen (Joe Locke) rushes over the Ouija board and discovers a new name, which he shouts at Agatha: Nicholas Scratch, her son—and apparently her dead son, at that. “Stop mommy,” the ghostly voice says, and she does.
But it’s too late for Alice. Just one episode after breaking her family’s curse, Alice lies dead on the ground, and the witches—and especially Teen—are not happy.
Only Rio (Aubrey Plaza) seems unfazed by all of this. She’s a curious cat. When they go broom riding, she cackles just like the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard Of Oz. When things go upside down during the Ouija board game, she dances around in glee while everyone else freaks out. Most curiously of all, when the Ouija board answers “Who is this?” with DEATH she laughs out loud, as if she knows something nobody else knows.
My guess? She’s not Rio at all, but rather Death personified. In the comics, Death takes on many forms when visiting the corporeal world, but the most common are a skeleton in black robes and a woman. When Rio shows up on the Witch’s Road, she tells the others that she’s here to collect her bodies. Now she has two. Well, maybe more!
After Agatha steals Alice’s power she goes outside and looks contemplative until Teen shows up. He’s mad and she sputters excuses. She couldn’t control it, she tells him, it was an accident. “Stop lying!” he says angrily, and then a shift happens. Agatha changes entirely. With a sly—genuinely evil—grin, she says “You’re just like your mother.” The Wanda theme starts to play.
She walks away and we see Teen begin to change. Magic crackles at his fingers. Suddenly both Jen and Lilia’s eyes turn a weird blue and they grab Agatha, dragging her relentlessly over to a nearby patch of quicksand, where they throw her in unceremoniously. She begs for help as she’s sucked under. Then Teen uses this sudden magic to hurl both other women into the quicksand. As they sink beneath, crying out desperately, we see Teen begin to change.
Wanda’s crown appears on his forehead, just as Billie Eilish’s song You Should See Me In A Crown begins to play. This is one of the most clever, effective needle drops I’ve ever seen in a show. The credits roll as Eilish sings:
Bite my tongue, bide my time
Wearing a warning sign
Wait ’til the world is mine
Visions I vandalize
Cold in my kingdom size
Fell for these ocean eyes
You should see me in a crown
I’m gonna run this nothing town
Watch me make ’em bow
One by one by one
One by one by
You should see me in a crown
Your silence is my favorite sound
Watch me make ’em bow
One by one by one
One by one by one
This works on several levels:
- This is Billy, Wanda’s son, who is also known as the comic book character Wiccan. The song is by Billie Eilish.
- He’s wearing Wanda’s crown, and the song is not only the perfect title, but thematically right on point. He’s been biting his tongue—the ward placed on his voice preventing the witch’s from learning his identity—and biding his time—his powers have been dormant until now. Now he’s taking over, using his powers to stop Agatha, making the witch’s “bow”.
- Sonically, it’s the perfect tone for this dramatic crescendo, dark and ominous.
In any case, what a great episode. I enjoyed the whole 80s sleepover costume theme in the new trial, and I’m glad we get this weekly as it’s a nice throwback to WandaVision and its sitcom eras while still serving its own purpose. The brooms were fun, even if I found the whole “pry a giant root from the ground with ease” bit a little funny. Have you ever tried to snap a root off like that? Mostly, I really enjoyed everything from the Ouija board through the big Wiccan reveal. I’m definitely invested now and curious to see where this show goes in its last few episodes. Kathryn Hahn is killing it. That transformation to pure evil was scary good.
I am curious to know how she discovered that Teen was actually Wanda’s boy. They don’t make that clear. Did something happen when she was possessed? Did she simply realize that he couldn’t be her son when her actual son, Nicholas Scratch, reached out from beyond the grave? (And is he actually dead? My guess is “no”). Or was it something to do with gaining Alice’s powers? I hope we find out. Maybe she just knew he was either her child or Wanda’s. But she sure seemed certain!
Scattered Thoughts:
- I’ve been avoiding leaks, so I suppose other people likely knew Teen’s identity already, and I certainly had my suspicions, but it was a cool reveal. Rio’s true identity—it has to be Death—is more obvious than ever after this episode. But her funniest line, in retrospect, is “I hate ghosts.” Makes sense—not quite alive, not quite dead, stuck between worlds. I can see how Death would not be a fan.
- Did Wanda put the sigil on Billy or did he put the sigil on himself or are we dealing with some other being or power. I speculated a lot about Mephisto during WandaVision’s run . . . .
- I am impressed with Jac Schaeffer for taking big risks here and them mostly paying off. She did that with WandaVision and these two shows are really unlike anything else in the MCU. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite MCU series on Disney+, with just WandaVision and Loki ahead. Disney should really consider giving Schaeffer a movie to tie all this stuff together and bring back Wanda.
- Lilia has been referencing Tarot cards I believe every episode. I’m going to have to pay closer attention to these bits. Each one seems significant. Of course, time may be running out for our fortune teller—and for every witch who had the misfortune of joining Agatha’s quest.
- I hope Agatha doesn’t get a redemption arc. I want her to go full evil and for Wiccan to stop her. Redemption arcs are so overrated.
- I don’t think the swamp killed the witches, either. My big question is do they pop back out or show back up in the real world? If these three aren’t dead, does that mean Mrs Hart and Alice come back alive? I kind of think those deaths are permanent, and the swamp “deaths” are not. We shall see . . . .
- I wonder if this trial went sideways from the beginning. Was Evanora even supposed to be there, or did she sneak in via the Salem Seven’s presence—perhaps in one of the bugs in Agatha’s hair? Maybe only Scratch was supposed to show up for this test. Much to ponder. Compelling mysteries to unwind. I dig it.
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